10 tips to lose weight without crazy dieting

You don’t need to go on crazy diets to achieve the weight you dream of. Crazy diets almost always work, but they almost never keep the weight off. These diets are usually really sever. It’s obvious that when you eat almost nothing you’ll lose weight. The problem is that, even if you are strong enough to keep the diet for as long as it’s recommended to keep them, after the diet is finished you go back to your old habits. Those habits got you to go over your goal weight to begin with. Therefore changing your habits might be a better solution.

Eat until you’re about 80% full. Don’t eat until you’re about to explode, because then you ate too much. Eat until you had enough or even stop eating a bit before that, but also don’t leave the table still hungry. To do this you need to eat slow, it takes time for the brain to receive the message that your stomach is full.

If it’s difficult for you to eat slow, try putting your fork down after every bite.

Sleep-deprivation messes with your hormones (ghrelin and leptin) which makes you eat more. When you’re tired you also tend to make poor food choices. Plus your metabolism slows down. Make sure you get 7.5h of quality sleep every night.

Serve 3 kinds of vegetables during dinner. More choices in vegetables make you eat more even if you’re not really trying. When you eat more vegetables, but still not overeat, it’s really likely you’ll get less kcal. Off course you should cook them without adding extra fat.

Do not bring the enemy home! If you are trying to lose some weight and you know you shouldn’t eat ice cream, you shouldn’t buy ice cream to begin with.

Try to make it a habit to cook one new recipe a week, this way you’ll be encouraged to eat with variation.

Don’t feel obligated to eat everything on your plate choose the right portion size for you. In restaurants they are often too big, don’t try to eat everything. If you had enough then stop eating and save the rest for later. Any extra bite won’t taste any different then all your bites you had before.

Plan ahead. If you plan ahead what you’re going to eat during the week, you can save yourself a lot of trouble and stress. Planning ahead helps you to foresee at what point in the week it will be difficult for you to eat healthy. When you know where the obstacle is you can fix it. It can safe you emergency runs to the supermarket, and we all know that going to the supermarket hungry is not such a good idea.

Do not eat from a bag. When you eat form the bag you have no idea how much you already ate. It’s better to put the content of the bag in a cup or bowl. That way you can visually see what you are about to eat and have a better idea of what you already ate. Seeing the amounts you ate plays a role in feeling full.

Drink plenty of water. Our body has difficulties to know the difference between thirst and hunger. Many times we eat because we think we’re hungry but are actually dehydrated. When you think you are hungry it can be a good idea to first drink a big glass of water.